The Gateless Gate

Although meditation is the inner gate out of illusion, from the view­point of higher truth there is no gate to pass through and nowhere to go. Meditation is the gateless gate to the natural state of our abidance in the universal now. To penetrate the dimension of meditation is to realize the mystery of this gateless gate, to merge one’s true existence with the supreme beyond.

being and understanding

Being is beyond understanding, but without understanding we cannot transcend the plane of becoming. Despite its fundamental simplicity, we must contemplate the dimension of meditation deeply to fully comprehend its intangible nature. No matter how gratifying our experience in meditation is, there are important questions to ask as we enter this new space: How can we penetrate the unseen depths of the inner realm? How are we to grasp the subtle reality beyond the mind? What is the true state of meditation and how can we differen­tiate it from the maze of meditative experiences we pass through? Is the inner state the same as the one who experiences it? Is the knower of the inner realm external to the place in which he abides? Who am I and where am I within the state of meditation? What is this great void of the cosmic beyond upon which we dwell when submerged in meditation? What levels of inner depth does our consciousness tra­verse in our progression towards surrender? How can we actualize the complete state of meditation? How can we merge with the uni­versal self? We can unravel many questions about the multifaceted reality of meditation through the mind, but the ultimate answers lie in pure being and non-conceptual understanding.

self-knowledge and meditation

Meditation is an act of being, whereas self-knowledge is an act of knowing. Two mutually supporting aspects of the inner path, medi­tation and self-knowledge are indivisible from one another. Self-knowledge is required to penetrate to the essence of meditation, and meditation brings stability and depth to the knowledge of our true self. Meditation without self-knowledge is utterly impotent, dull and mechanical; one cannot enter meditation’s true core. Self-knowledge without meditation is shallow and leaves us trapped on the exterior of the inner state, disconnected from the beyond.

The secret of self-knowledge lies in the existential leap from objectivity to subjectivity — from living on the periphery of the mind to realizing the heart of I am — the ultimate centering act of consciousness. Meditation is the practice of staying in the presence of that self-knowledge. As we dwell upon the knowledge of I am, by the law of spiritual gravity, the vertical pull of the now reveals ever more depth in the experience of the self. This depth is itself beyond self-knowledge, for it is the very source of both self and knowledge.

It is quite common for those who follow the path of self-enquiry to reject the practice of meditation. Even if their enquiry does yield positive results, they frequently become stagnated on the path. This is due to their inability to both stabilize and deepen that which they have awakened. Then there are seekers who do practice meditation, but not self-enquiry. Due to their lack of conscious intention to gain self-knowledge, their practice remains rooted in ignorance, power­less to yield true awakening.

Unfortunately, in some traditions, due to the misperception that ‘no-self’ is the opposite of self, the belief in no-self is used as an excuse to reject the practice of self-enquiry. The confusion here stems from a lack of understanding about the difference between the indi­vidual and universal dimensions of the self. The term no-self, in its correct definition, does not signify a negation of the individual self; rather, it denotes the non-abiding, empty nature of the universal self. Self-enquiry is a tool used to awaken the essence of the soul, not the universal self, which is realized through our surrender and absorp­tion in the beyond. To negate the individual self is foolish, for with­out its presence, neither self nor no-self can be realized. Here we can see how a simple concept employed without imagination can sabo­tage the positive movement towards awakening to pure subjectivity.

Traditionally, self-enquiry is applied either to expose the illusory nature of ego or to realize the universal self. Though this approach may be fruitful in the sense that it can open one to the inner realm, it leads to fundamentally false conclusions because it bypasses the essence of the enquirer himself. Self-enquiry practiced correctly points beyond false individuality and identification with universal­ity to the personal essence of the soul’s consciousness, the knowledge of I am.

As essential as it is, no amount of self-knowledge can bring us to the kind of depth that is reached through meditation, which exists on a much deeper plane than the consciousness of awareness that characterizes self-inquiry. True meditation is a condition of pure sur­render through which our sense of I am merges with the universal state of oneness.

two levels of pure subjectivity

In our explanation of the inner realm we draw a clear distinction between two basic strata of pure subjectivity: the first is the subjectiv­ity of the soul, the knower and witness of the inner state; the second is not an entity, a personal essence or an individual knower, but the dimension of being, the unmanifested ground of existence. The one who abides in the state of meditation is the pure subjectivity of the individual soul, and the dimension in which the soul abides, is the pure subjectivity of universal I am. Over the course of our inner evolu­tion this distinction becomes more and more transparent as these two levels of subjectivity progressively merge into one, undivided reality.

absolute objectivity

In the discipline of hard science, the term ‘subjective experience’ generally denotes an experience that is relative in nature, and there­fore cannot be objectively described or confirmed. In contrast, the term ‘objective experience’ signifies an occurrence that is factually verifiable, and as such, independent of our individual experiences or opinions. The ‘subjective observer’ is therefore seen as an impedi­ment to empirical analysis. However, in the science of spirituality, the subjective essence is understood to lie far deeper than the rela­tive subjectivity of the mind and personality. Our true subjectivity is in fact absolutely ‘objective’ because it reflects the eternal light of universal I am.

Despite the fact that in the language of meditation and con­sciousness the term ‘objective’ usually points to something external to I am, we should not assume that the reality of objects and appear­ances is in existential opposition to pure subjectivity. This is true only in the case of an unconscious person in whom the light of subjectivity is lost in ignorant identification with phenomenal existence. When pure subjectivity is fully realized it transcends the polarity of inner and outer, containing them both in the space of all-pervasive one­ness. Ultimately, there is only one reality — nothing exists outside of all-that-is.

attention and letting go

There are two fundamental aspects of meditation: centering and absorption. In meditation we must maintain the correct balance between alertness and calm, concentration and letting go. Through centering we gain a stable sense of self and presence; through absorption we move into the depth of being. We cannot reach a state of true absorption prior to centering our consciousness. By establish­ing ourselves in pure awareness, we move beyond the gross level of the fragmented mind and give birth to a real center from which we can begin to surrender.

In our meditation practice we must first establish the necessary level of concentration, and then solidify our attention. Although the term concentration implies a gathering of energy towards our center, in practice, concentration is more outwardly oriented than attention. Attention is closer to the essence of awareness than concentration — in its purest form it is self-attentive. Concentration is the ability to focus the mind and energy, attention is one-pointed awareness; concentra­tion enables us to temporarily put the mechanical mind on hold, atten­tion allows us to go beyond it. Through concentration we drop our forgetfulness, through attention we abide in remembrance; concentra­tion brings us to the present, attention bridges us with our essence.

However, in our effort to enter the state of meditation, attention by itself is insufficient. Although it enables us to abide in the present and links us with pure awareness, attention cannot enter the dimen­sion of the now. Attention dwells only on the surface of meditation. The real depth of meditation is reached through absorption, which we access by letting go of attention. Letting go is the surrender to the depth of the now that opens the soul to the gravitational force of the beyond.

The condition of not-letting-go is the unconscious exercise of self-control through which we sustain our sense of separate existence as human beings. Because we exist in a perpetual state of tension and self-holding, we need to spend a long time in meditation before we are able to let go into an existential state of ease and become absorbed in the simplicity of being.

Excessive concentration and self-control, and their opposites, inattentiveness and lethargy, are the most common impediments in the practice of meditation. We need to maintain a precise equilibrium between attention and letting go. If we do not generate enough atten­tion, our attempts to let go will lead to daydreaming or sleep; if we are too alert, we create strain and become overly self-conscious.

The ability to preserve the proper balance between awareness and surrender in our practice reflects our relative effort and coopera­tion in activating the natural state of meditation. In the natural state, no effort is needed, because one abides beyond the polarity of atten­tion and letting go. The natural state is a state beyond the mind’s fluctuating energies in which attention and letting go both become immersed in the void of pure being.

meditation: the passage to the beyond

On its surface, meditation is a time of peace and quiet during which the mind is put at rest. True meditation, however, is far beyond any experience of psychological relaxation or calm. There is nothing wrong with feeling blissful or enjoying inner peace, but meditation is much more than that. To recognize the sacredness of meditation we have to meet the metaphysical depths of the inner dimension. The purest motivation to meditate transcends the search for personal satisfaction, pleasure, or even peace; it is the deep desire to enter our original home and move from illusion into reality. To enter the inner realm and dwell in the pure subjectivity of being is to regain our true life, to find our roots in the source of creation.

In the initial stages of our meditation practice we come face-to-face with the unconscious mind and our disjointed state of being. Since we are moving out of suffering and forgetfulness during this period, we can consider it a ‘negative’ phase in our evolution. But when we become more integrated inside and gain entry into the inner realm, we begin the ‘positive’ phase of practice based on internal expansion. To support this expansion, we literally ‘sit’ in the inner realm and, by the divine law, gradually merge with the beyond in a process that continues until the state of complete oneness is reached. Even after realizing oneness, the movement into the inner realm does not stop, for the beyond is infinite and thus there is no end to its revelation.

the bottomless depth of meditation

Meditation has two functions: to enable us to expand into our true self, which is soul-realization, and to support our expansion into the beyond, which is self-realization. There is no end to either expan­sion. Even after the soul is realized she continues to grow into an increasingly higher condition of her eternal identity. The very nature of existence is movement. Nothing can stop, for to stop is to regress, and in the context of spiritual evolution, to die.

Before the transcendental state is fully realized and our individ­uality merges in samadhi, a meditator journeys through many differ­ent layers of pure being, each containing enough depth to bestow an unconditional sense of gratification. Although settling our existence down into the state of absolute rest is not an easy task, as we grow within the inner realm, there is more and more pure contentment. Only when we have gone through the whole process of expansion, however, can we experience the ultimate contentment, the infinite bliss of absence.